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I hold the sail material in place with 1 in. wide Scotch blue masking tape. Use the regular blue masking tape and not the low stick type. Cut off lengths about 2.5 in. long, and then fold over about 0.25 in. at the end so you can remove the tape. I line up the cut pieces of tape on the edge of my glass cutting table, which I first clean with rubbing alcohol then wipe dry with a paper towel.

To hold the sail material, space the tape about 6 in. apart on straight sections and closer together on the curved sections. For leading edges, I tape both the front and back sides at the same location. Begin sewing, and then remove each piece of tape once are close with the stitching. For smaller projects, I cut the 1 in. wide blue masking tape into widths of 0.25 to 0.5 inches.

In challenging areas, I just sew through the tape, then lay a steel straight edge along the stitching and carefully rip the tape along the stitching, and remove it from the sail material.

For outside curves, you can cut tiny nicks along the edges. For inside (concave) curves, cut out tiny notches to remove excess fabric. Slow was good advice- slow and don't stretch things out too much. Ease it in as you go. If you have to stop and lift the presser foot, make sure to stop with the needle in the down position before lifting the foot.

The following picture shows how I use the blue masking tape to hold the hem. This hem is a single fold for my Rapere Canard kite. I have used the blue masking tape technique on larger kites, such as my stunt kites, which have a double fold hem with a leach line.

Doug, for what it's worth, you can get rolls of 1/4" masking tape at your local quilt shop. It's sticky enough to do what you are doing, but not too sticky. Save you the work of cutting all those nice'n neat pieces.

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